Republic of Cascadia
The Republic of Cascadian (usually referred to as simply Cascadia) is a country in the Northwestern region of North America situated around the Cascade Bio-region, the nation's namesake. The Republic is most known for its environmental policies, its liberal socialist leanings and its scientific achievements. These very attributes have attributed to dislike of Cascadia in some circles such as some European nations, though the Republic has only gone to war once in response to a conflict erupting with its ally the Pacific Confederacy. 'History' Cascadia is a land with firm ties to their history. The land that is now Cascadia once belonged to a several Native tribes (now collectively known as Native First Cascadians) whose intertribe warfare meant their conquest was easy. The land now stripped of any bloody opposition the first Cascadian settlers began to form the land into a resource-filled trading hub for the Pacific Northwest. It was not long before the population of Cascadia warranted the creation of a formal state, and in 1849 the Republic of Cascadia was formed. Initially the Republic was inflicted with several debilitating stability issues in the form of economics and the large gap between the exploiters of natural resources and the conservationists believing in more benign insitutions. This rift culminated in a major political, environmental and political shift in the early 1900's when the now dominant Socalist-Ecological Party took the majority in all three houses of legislation. The Eco-Socials as they have been referred too quickly reshaped the nation, which had been at the mercy of corporate greed exploiting the natural resources of the land, into a model more envisioned by the Cascadian founders. Legislation to regulate big-business, to conserve important ecological regions and increase the civil rights of Cascadians passed through the three houses and brought the nation to modern prosperity. thumb|176px|left|The national anthem of Cascadia as found on Youtube. For years the Republic changed little in the ways of policy but grew both physically and economically. In the 1940's the borders of Cascadia had ranged twice as far from their previous locations and now went far below the Columbia River. The industry of Cascadia also soared with the shipping, fishing and lumber industries supplying much of North and South America with good-quality goods. This growth would later lead to some of the most important advancements in Cascadia and the world itself. In the early 1950's a scientific endeavor began prompted by the Cascadian government as a way to produce clean, renewable, energy to replace the pollutants that they had relied on. The program, known as the Portland Project, eventually took a more militaristic approach with the realization of the products true applications. Not long after the project had began, due to great successes early on, the first Nuclear bomb was detonated in a agriculturally scarred region of the Midwest. The detonation of the bomb heralded a new age for not only the nation, but for the entire world. The first military use of the new Nuclear-armed ICBM's developed in Cascadian came in the First Pacific War. The wartime launch was, however, less than ideal and the ensuing chaos to both sides in the conflict left the Cascadian government with a decision. Historically the government would elect to not use Nuclear arms again unless the situation was dire. Long after this first use, the Republic had taken a much needed isolationist view of foreign affairs. Though having strong alliances abroad the Cascadian government and people could not stomach any more nuclear conflicts. With this feeling Cascadia began their campaign of military modernization and augmentation to create a standing defense force in case of the unforeseen. With war seemingly out of Cascadian affairs the nation could focus on more pressing matters. A great surge in renewable technologies quickly made Cascadia completely energy independent. The acquisition of Alaska and Northern Canada had opened up more industries as well. Military technologies had also made Cascadian one of the most advanced militaries in the world. Health care soon swept through Cascadia, as well as an increase in infrastructure and the beginnings of a hyper-advanced education for Cascadia youth and adults alike. Then came the Seattle Attack. With no reasonable answer to why the attacks occurred, and little defense for the attacks, the Republic of Cascadia was deliberately and maliciously attacked by a group of terrorists masquerading as nationals of the Nation of Islam, a key and strong ally of the Republic. Initial attempts to oust the terrorists had only strengthened their hold in Cascadia. Currently an unknown number of terrorist cells exist in the Republic with high hopes of their removal quite soon. Government Cascadia has a unique form of governing, far different than most nations. The largest concentration of power sits in the hands of the legislative body of the government as Cascadia has no executive branch on its own (these powers are split between the legislative and judiciary branches) and thus no figurehead as a measure to prevent a dictatorship (commonplace in socialist countries). The legislative branch is thus split into three houses named after the city they reside in. There is the Vancouver House, the Seattle House and the Portland House. Each house is made up of members elected proportionally from their respective regions, and each house operates seemingly seperate from one another allowing for regional-legislation. Federal legislation starts in any one of the houses and is then given to the other two so they can pass it. If passed in two houses the legislation moves on to the Grand Court in Victoria who see to its consitutionality. If consitutional, the legislation is law. If not, the legislation is given back to the houses and reformed or passed again in three houses. Certain cases also need the approval of the majority of all three houses. Declaring war requires a full majority, and war has only been declared once during the First Pacific War though a declaration of peace was passed not long after. War War is a very sensitive topic amongst many Cascadians. The first war that the Republic fought in was the First Pacific War, aiding its ally the Pacific Confederacy. This was the first use of the Republic's new nuclear weapons and the first failure of the Republic's foreign policy. Still reeling from the failure in doing anything productive in the Pacific Theater, Cascadia then turned its head to Eur ope. Europe, home to the Hegemon, a nation with a strained history with the Republic, and its allies, was a place for an even more massive conflict this time between the Workers' Collective, another Cascadian ally, against aggressors to its South. After the Hegemon sent its troops to aid the White Russian against the Collective, Cascadia responded with five ICBM aimed at the Hegemon itself. This too, however, turned failure as the missile missed their intended target. They did, however, hit White Russia which lost most of its military and infrastructure with the attack helping put an end to the Russo-Worker War. The latest, and hopefully final, military action taken by the Republic came in the form of a single ICBM being fired at the belligerent nation of Zero Two. For a long while Zero Two had openly hoped for genocide against all of humanity, and this could not stand. This instance of Cascadian preemptiveness also failed, however, as the ICBM missed the island nation and instead landed on the reclusive nation of Dhong sic. After such numerous failures in the field of battle the Republic began a reformation of their foreign policy. Majority Leader Wayne Morse (RG- Portland) called for an immediate end to aggressive Cascadian policy and an immediate cease to what can only be described as "Arbitrary" missile strikes that never actually hit their intended target. Not long after a vote in the Tricameral legislative body came out in favor of Morse's iniative putting an end to the needless use of nuclear force by Cascadia. The new military policy was as follows: #All war actions, including acts that would incite war, were to be voted on and only allowed with a Majority in the Grand Senate made up of the three Regional Senates. #All war actions must be justified by either a necessity to the defense and preservation of liberty of Cascadia or a necessity to intervene due to massive Cascadian interest. #All war actions must be responsive or preemptive, no military actions will take place with Cascadia as the aggressor. #A reasonable level of diplomacy must have taken place before the call of a war action. #The use of nuclear weapons must be voted on and only allowed with a Majority in Two of the Three Regional Senates after the vote for War has been passed. #No one individual can declare, wage, or incite War. Technology As of now the technological advancements of the Republic of Cascadia have been nearly all military. The first major technological breakthrough of th Republic came obviously in the form of Nuclear Fission and eventually the militarization of such a technology. Thus the Republic became the first Nuclear nation, though this would slowly change with some modernized nations wielding 'The Bomb' as well. Though its most publicized advancement was the nuclear bomb, the Republic's first real military advancements came in the form of Rocketry, and as such Cascadia was the first nation to field Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles or ICBM's. After the realization that their military prowess was doomed from the start, the Republic then began to focus on more domestic technologies. The first of such civilian developments was the Basic Computer, though not the first nation to have created it. The computer would then be used as the backbone for the Republic's first satellite RCS Douglas'', '' a targeting satellite used in conjuction with Cascadian ICBM's. The future of Cascadian technology has a civilian theme. The new hopes of Cascadian technology are taking the form of renewable power, defensive technologies to preserve Cascadian sovereignty, and formerly space-faring advancements. In the field of renewable energy the Republic is far ahead of all other nations. The first great leap in Cascadian Energy is the advancement of hydroelectric plants in the forms of damming of the various rivers that criss-cross the nation including the mighty Columbia. Cascadia has also made great strides in wind energy and are beginning on developing a solar panel intended for orbiting as to recieve more sunlight than a conventional land-based solar panel. The field of defensive technologies has been a somewhat new one to the government of Cascadia. Long researching into offensive technologies, the scientists now had to focus on domestic systems to ward off threats from outside. Thus the Cascadian scientists has begun working into a nationwide Anti-Aircraft System and have recieved aid from their allies in constructing their own SDI. Spaceflight has always been a long-wanted prospect for the government of Cascadia as a way to broaden their nation's horizons and show Cascadian expertise in fields other than nuclear weapons. That being said, the Cascadian space program has been declared an "Utter failure" by most Cascadian officials as at the moment cease to exist. This comes after numerous attempts at space flight, and even simply launching a practice rocket. Since the establishment of the Cascadian Air and Space Research Organization, CASRO, Cascadia had never gotten a rocket into space. This ironically mirrors the failure of most Cascadian ICBM's hitting their mark. Category:Nation Category:Nation Builder Category:Cascadians